PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Age-reversal effects of 'young blood' molecule GDF-11 called into question

Age-reversal effects of 'young blood' molecule GDF-11 called into question
2015-05-19
(Press-News.org) The leading theory for why the blood of younger mice rejuvenates the muscles of older mice is now in contest. The vampiric exchange of young blood and old blood has long been reported to have anti-aging effects, but it was in 2013 when Harvard University researchers first linked GDF-11, a molecule that circulates in the blood, to this effect.

Now, an analysis that set out to see how GDF-11 works in the muscles published May 19 in Cell Metabolism found just the opposite. The investigators showed first that GDF-11 was not specifically measured; the methods that were previously used were not specific for GDF-11, but also measured another molecule it closely resembles, called myostatin, which is well known to inhibit muscle growth.

The new study, led by David Glass at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of California, San Francisco, used tests to more accurately measure GDF-11 (short for Growth Differentiation Factor 11) in the blood of animals and humans and found that it showed hints of increasing with age, and clearly did not decrease with age. They also show that regularly injecting mice with pure GDF-11 causes muscle repair to worsen, resembling effects seen in older age.

"This is a carefully conducted study that is certain to generate a vigorous discussion about what role GDF-11 plays, if any, in aging muscle," says Se-Jin Lee, an expert on growth/differentiation factors and molecular biologist at Johns Hopkins University who did not participate in the research.

"I think that these new results definitely raise questions as to whether GDF-11 was really being exclusively detected in the prior paper," Lee adds. "Clearly, these discrepancies will need to be resolved with additional studies, especially given the enormous effort being undertaken in the pharmaceutical community to target the myostatin pathway to treat muscle loss."

Giving GDF-11 at doses previously used in aged animals did not improve regeneration, as previously claimed. When younger animals were treated with GDF-11, regeneration was worsened. The authors developed a test that could detect GDF-11 levels specifically and suggest that, for humans, testing for high levels of GDF-11 could potentially make them eligible for medicines that block GDF-11 activity.

"Clearly, like the mythical fountain of youth, GDF11 is not the long sought rejuvenation factor," write Caroline Brun and Michael A. Rudnicki of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in a preview to the Cell Metabolism paper. They say, given these new findings, "the suggested 'rejuvenating' activity of GDF11 in the heart and brain should also be re-examined - since the underlying premise of those other two manuscripts, that GDF11 decreases with age, is contradicted by [the new] manuscript."

INFORMATION:

This work was funded by the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.

Dr. Se-Jin Lee, quoted in the press release, is under a licensing agreement with Pfizer and entitled to a share of future sales royalty received by Johns Hopkins University for technology related to myostatin, as well as a consultant to Ascelegen.

Cell Metabolism, Egerman et al.: "GDF11 increases with age and inhibits skeletal muscle regeneration" DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2015.05.010

Cell Metabolism, published by Cell Press, is a monthly journal that publishes reports of novel results in metabolic biology, from molecular and cellular biology to translational studies. The journal aims to highlight work addressing the molecular mechanisms underlying physiology and homeostasis in health and disease. For more information, please visit http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism. To receive media alerts for Cell Metabolism or other Cell Press journals, contact press@cell.com.


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Age-reversal effects of 'young blood' molecule GDF-11 called into question

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Researchers determine best anesthesia option for infants

2015-05-19
Chicago -- May 14, 2015 -- Infants undergoing some types of surgery could have better recovery if they receive regional anesthesia rather than general anesthesia, according to two studies published in the Online First edition of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®). Researchers explored the differences between the two types of anesthesia by measuring the presence of apnea, a breathing complication, following hernia surgery. Experts have long examined the effects of anesthesia on infants and toddlers, ...

'Redesigned' antibodies may control HIV: Vanderbilt study

2015-05-19
With the help of a computer program called "Rosetta," researchers at Vanderbilt University have "redesigned" an antibody that has increased potency and can neutralize more strains of the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) than can any known natural antibody. Their findings, published online today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggest that computer-redesigned antibodies may speed the search for an effective therapy or vaccine for a virus that so far has eluded all attempts to eradicate it. "There's a consensus (in the HIV field) that the vaccine ...

Hemodialysis is recommended for acute salicylate poisoning

2015-05-19
WASHINGTON --The best remedy for severe salicylate poisoning is hemodialysis, according to a comprehensive systematic review of the medical literature published on Friday in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Extracorporeal Treatment for Salicylate Poisoning: Systematic Review and Recommendations from the EXTIRP Workgroup"). Salicylate is an active ingredient in aspirin as well as hundreds of over-the-counter medications, and contributes to approximately 20,000 accidental or intentional poisonings and nearly 30 deaths reported to US Poison Control Centers every year. "Our ...

Nature inspires first artificial molecular pump

2015-05-19
Using nature for inspiration, a team of Northwestern University scientists is the first to develop an entirely artificial molecular pump, in which molecules pump other molecules. This tiny machine is no small feat. The pump one day might be used to power other molecular machines, such as artificial muscles. The new machine mimics the pumping mechanism of life-sustaining proteins that move small molecules around living cells to metabolize and store energy from food. For its food, the artificial pump draws power from chemical reactions, driving molecules step-by-step from ...

Livers donated after cardiac death are safe to use in liver cancer patients

2015-05-19
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Patients with liver cancer can be cured with a liver transplant. But because of the shortage of donated organs, these patients often die waiting for a liver. That's because most transplant centers predominantly use livers from donors who die from brain death. But in the largest study of its kind, transplant physicians at Mayo Clinic in Florida have found that liver cancer patients have the same beneficial outcomes using organs donated by patients who died of cardiac death. The study was recently published online in the American Journal of Transplantation. MULTIMEDIA ...

Large urban hospitals disadvantaged by medicare/medicaid patient satisfaction rating system

2015-05-19
(New York, May 19, 2015) -- The largest urban health systems, which serve as safety nets for large patient populations with lower socioeconomic status and greater likelihood to speak English as a second language, do worse on government patient satisfaction scores than smaller, non-urban hospitals likely to serve white customers with higher education levels, according to a new study by Mount Sinai researchers published this month in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. Patient satisfaction scores, in part due to the Affordable Care Act of 2010, are a key part of the formula ...

Cancer drugs may hold key to treating Down syndrome and other brain disorders

2015-05-19
ANN ARBOR--A class of FDA-approved cancer drugs may be able to prevent problems with brain cell development associated with disorders including Down syndrome and Fragile X syndrome, researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute have found. The researchers' proof-of-concept study using fruit fly models of brain dysfunction was published today in the journal eLife. They show that giving the leukemia drugs nilotinib or bafetinib to fly larvae with the equivalent of Fragile X prevented the wild overgrowth of neuron endings associated with the disorder. ...

Specialist care prevents acute confusion in older patients after surgery

2015-05-19
For the patient, surgery involves extreme physical stress, and in older patients especially this can lead to disorders of consciousness or cognition. The acute confusional state known as delirium, however, can often be prevented by specialist nursing care after the operation, as Torsten Kratz and co-authors show in an original article in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2015; 112: 289-96). In their study delirium liaison nurses were employed to help care for surgical patients aged 70 years and over. In every patient, the risk ...

Developmental psychology: Sharing doesn't hurt

2015-05-19
Preschoolers already recognize what it feels like to be left out when goodies are being shared. In a new study, Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich show that 3-year-olds can anticipate negative feelings in others, and adjust their own behavior in response. Why are we willing to share with others what we could just as well keep for ourselves? Willingness to allot a portion of a coveted resource to someone else is a behavioral pattern that can throw light on the origins and development of prosocial modes of response during childhood. In a new ...

Differences in tumor cell metabolism affect growth, invasion and response, says Moffitt researchers

2015-05-19
TAMPA, Fla. -- Cells within a tumor are not the same; they may have different genetic mutations and different characteristics during growth and throughout treatment. These differences make treating tumors extremely difficult and often lead to tumor recurrence dominated by more aggressive tumor cells. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers are using mathematical modeling to characterize these differences within a tumor and hope that the results of their latest study will lead to better therapeutic treatments. "Many tumors exhibit different metabolic behaviors compared to normal ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Music-based therapy may improve depressive symptoms in people with dementia

No evidence that substituting NHS doctors with physician associates is necessarily safe

At-home brain speed tests bridge cognitive data gaps

CRF appoints Josep Rodés-Cabau, M.D., Ph.D., as editor-in-chief of structural heart: the journal of the heart team

Violent crime is indeed a root cause of migration, according to new study

Customized smartphone app shows promise in preventing further cognitive decline among older adults diagnosed with mild impairment

Impact of COVID-19 on education not going away, UM study finds

School of Public Health researchers receive National Academies grant to assess environmental conditions in two Houston neighborhoods

Three Speculum articles recognized with prizes

ACM A.M. Turing Award honors two researchers who led the development of cornerstone AI technology

Incarcerated people are disproportionately impacted by climate change, CU doctors say

ESA 2025 Graduate Student Policy Award Cohort Named

Insomnia, lack of sleep linked to high blood pressure in teens

Heart & stroke risks vary among Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander adults

Levels of select vitamins & minerals in pregnancy may be linked to lower midlife BP risk

Large study of dietary habits suggests more plant oils, less butter could lead to better health

Butter and plant-based oils intake and mortality

20% of butterflies in the U.S. have disappeared since 2000

Bacterial ‘jumping genes’ can target and control chromosome ends

Scientists identify genes that make humans and Labradors more likely to become obese

Early-life gut microbes may protect against diabetes, research in mice suggests

Study raises the possibility of a country without butterflies

Study reveals obesity gene in dogs that is relevant to human obesity studies

A rapid decline in US butterfly populations

Indigenous farming practices have shaped manioc’s genetic diversity for millennia

Controlling electrons in molecules at ultrafast timescales

Tropical forests in the Americas are struggling to keep pace with climate change

Brain mapping unlocks key Alzheimer’s insights

Clinical trial tests novel stem-cell treatment for Parkinson’s disease

Awareness of rocky mountain spotted fever saves lives

[Press-News.org] Age-reversal effects of 'young blood' molecule GDF-11 called into question